My hybrid popper

[Indiana County Jr.]

Hi folks,
I have searched the posts and did not see a topic like this so I just thought I would run this by you guys and see what you thought. I have been experimenting for a while with many various types of threads and poly twines for poppers. Like the others here, I was noticing some died out too quickly, or wore down too fast. So I decided to give my poppers a new "twist" .... sorry... couldn't help that one. This is a take on Dan's tutorial (Thank You! BTW), it is one part poly (Dazzle Twine from Lowes) and (5) part thread (purchased from Joe Strains site). The thread is twisted together like the tutorial, then coupled with the poly and twisted again for the final assembly. It pops very uniquely in the sense that I noticed one of the major drawbacks was that some poppers would "pop" correctly with slow techniques and others sometimes would not. With this popper combo, if you are a big fan of "less is more" like I am, you can get off a nice "quiet" crack without the neighbors forming a lynching party, however, if you like to "shake the heavens", the poly will more than accommodate your request. If anyone is interested in trying this and would like to see how I did it, I am putting together a tutorial (mainly so I don't forget...). Anyway, here are the pics, one is tied to my Joe Strain (which I really love!) and the others are close up shots of the prototype when I first made them.

Joe Strain:


Popper close up:


Popper that has been used:


Crack On!
Allen

[McFly]

Nice! And I even like the color.

I tried to make one like that once that was 2 colors of poly - green and white. But it came out like the Monster Popper from You-Know-Where, and I've never put it on.

Shane

[Paul_Stenhouse]

Okay, I'll bite...why the extra knots?

Thanks,
Paul

[Indiana County Jr.]

Hi Paul,
Well, I kinda figured since on average the poppers ended up measuring about 7 inches that I could afford to tie another knot (even though ugly....) so that once the primary is worn out and no longer usable, you would have one more go (just clip it off) before you change it out. Kinda more "bang" for your buck approach.

Crack On!
Allen

[PyramidBlaster]

Nice! There was some talk I was involved in some months ago about using Powerpro braided fishing line and other forms of spectra, as well as poly twine and such to make crackers...But it's good to hear more experimentation taking place!!!! let us know how it goes as you continue the 'project'....

[BullWhipBorton]

Allen, I'm glad my popper making tutorial has been helpful and even though hybrid and experimental poppers have been touched on here in the past, its always nice to see a revisit on the topic with new ideas put into the mix.

I make the nylon/poly hybrids on occasion too; but do them a little differently then what you described. Those types of hybrids definitely have some advantages though, they stiffen out the nylon so the poppers are less likely to tangle if they touch during double handled routines, but with the nylon there too they last longer.

Shane, There’s a little trick or two to making those symmetrical two-tone poppers, don't give up

[Texas Raider]

In my experience, those extra knots tear up the thong. When the popper occasionally whacks or sometimes wraps around the thong, if there are more knots in the popper (it usually happens to my poppers while I'm cracking,,the popper gets an extra knot in it) it'll mar the leather pretty dang good,,personally I don't like the leather of the thong getting hit with anything, let alone a rough knot in the popper.

TR

[Indiana Leon]

Wooow! This whip looks awesome! Very great job!!!!

[Indiana County Jr.]

Hi Leon,
Thank Mr.Joe Strain for that one! He makes an incredible whips, I cannot say enough about his work. I was lucky to find another COW member selling this a while back and it was less than two months old. Talk about smooth roll out!


Crack On!
Allen